Robert creuzbaur



IMPROVED BOAT-LOWERING APPARATUS.

dige Stigetnle referat tu in tigen @dans tttnt :nu mating putt tf the snare.

To ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, ROBEnT CREUZBAUR, of New York city, in the count-y and State of New York, have invented an Improved Boat-Lowering and Picking-Up Apparatus; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1, sheet 1, is avvertical sectional view of aportion of a deck and one side of a ship, showing in side elevation the application thereto of the improved boatlloivering and picking-up apparatus.

Figure 2, sheet 1, is a similar view of the same parts shown in iig. l, indicating the davits in the act of raising or lowering n. boat.

Figure 3, sheet 2, is a plan view of fig. 2, with a portion of the deck broken away to show one of the davitropes passing beneath the deck to its winding-drum. K Y

Figure 4 is a sectional view, showing the winding-drum and its shaft.

Figure 5 is a sectional view of one of the hooded pulleys on the overhangingend of one of the davitsections.

Figures 6, 7, and 8 are views of a device for preventing the davit-ropes from fouling.

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken in the plane indicated by line :c x in iig. 4, showing the `manner of applying the hand-wheel to its drum-shaft.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

For the purpose of facilitating the raising and lowering of ships boats, and for guarding against accidents in casting off boats, the nature of my invention consists in providing for raising and lowering a boat upon an even keel by applying the davit-ropes to drums which are upon a shaft, which is provided with a friction-brake, by which one man. can safely lower a boat, and with a hand-wheel, capstan, connection, Spanish windlnss, or other equivalent device, by which a boat is thus alwayslowercd and hoisted upon an even keel, as will be hereinafter described. It also consists in certain novel means whereby the dav'it-ropos are prevented from running off their pulleys o1' fouling during the operation of raising or lowering a boat, as will be hereinafter described.

It also consists in providing for winding the davit-ropes upon their drums in an even manner, so that both drums shall act uniformly to raise or lower a boat upon an even keel, as hereinafter described. The invention further consists in a means, which. will he hereinafter described,` for preventing injurious jar and concussion in raising and lowering a boat, as willvbe hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I will describeits construction and operation.

In my application for a patent, lettered A, and accompanying this, I have set forth a mode of constructing ships davits, whereby they can be swung from the ships side in vertical planes, at right angles to the length of the ship, and a boat lowered into the water a safe distance from the ships side. In said application I referred to someof the parts whichform -the subject of this application, but restricted the claim to the davits irrespective of the means for operating them, as other means than those shown therein might be used. Under this application I shall describe thehingcd davits, but do not connc myself to their use, as themeans hereinafter described for raising and lowering a boat may bc employed in conjunction with the well-known davits, although I prefer to use these means in connection with said swinging davits.

In the accompanying drawings, A A represent two hinged or pivoted davits, which are attached to the outside of the vessel by means of pins, a a, or in any other suitable manner which will admit of the davits 4 being vibrated in vertical planes at right angles to the length of thovessel, as indicated by the two positions shown in igs. 1 and 2. These davits are hinged or pivotcd separately to the vcssels side, so that they may have independent movements of cach other, or rise and descend in the arc of a circle together. The drawings represent the lower ends forked and pivoted to brackets, which are rigidly fastened to thc vessel outside, but it is notcontemplated to confine the invention to this peculiar attachment, as other modes of hinging thc davits may bc adopted. The forked ends of the davits serve to brace and strengthen them and prevent vibration and undue strain in a direction with the length of the vessel. The upper ends of thestofndards or straight portions` of the davits are constructed with sockets in them, in which screw-threads are formed 4for receiving the screw* threaded lower ends of the curved overhangiug portions of the davits, from which' the boat B is suspended."

This mode of constructing davits will allow of the swingingof their curved top portions or sections (with boat. attached) inward or over the deck of the vessel, as indicated by red lines in iig. 1, in which figure the curved portions of the davits are also represented as turned outward. At the extremity of the curved part of each davit is a pulley, P, over which the suspending-rope R works, and upon which this rope is safely held, and prevented from fouling by the shield S, which latter turns freely on the axle of said pulley, so as to conform to the different positions or directions of the rope in raising and lowering .the free end of the davit. This shield S has an eye, b, through it, through which rope R passes, and by which the hoed or shield is caused toaccommodate itself to this rope, and tho latter held safely in the groove of the pulley P, whether the boat should surge fore and aft, or in any other direction.

To enable persons to pass safely over the davits to a boat which islowercd into the water, or to pass from such boat to the vessel, a ladder or stairway is constructed upon both the straight and curved portions of each davit. '.lhis may be done by screwing rounds, r r, into the sides et' the straight and curved portions of the davits and applying rails Tl r2 to the ends of said rounds, as shown in iig. 4, sheet 2. The rounds and rails of the curved sections of the davits are applied to the inner sides thereof, while the rounds and rails of the straight sections are applied on their outer sides. They can, however, be placed on the inner sides also. In order to complete the passage-way, a hand-railing is applied to each section of each davit, which railing is formed on the straight portion of leach davit by the supporting-standards (Zd and rail e.- 'lfhese standards are pivoted to the rounds or to the ears at one end and to the rail c at the other ends. The rail c is hinged by its lower or inner end, at c', to one of the suspension-bars v above the point of attachment of the davit to the vesscls side, and all the parts are of such length relatively that true parallelograms areformed between the several pivots, which admit of said parts folding up compaetly when the davit is brought to the upright position shown in iig. 1. Qnthe curved portion of each davit the hand-rail consists simply of a standard, u, with a hand-rope, dl, fast- V"cned to an eye on the free end of the rail c, and passing through an eye formed on the upper end of-this standard,

as well as through aneyc at the outer extremity of the rail r2, terminating in a ball or float, di, to keep it taut and to facilitate the grasping of this rope. The weight of the boat will prevent the turning or tilting of these curved portionswhen stepped upon. When thedadder-ivays on the upper and lower portions are bot-h on thel inside, the former lap and rest on the latter, which steadies them the more. The rope R of cach davit passes from the hooded pulley P over a pulley, F, figs. l and 2, and then down the gunwale beneath the deck of the' vessel and a pulley, Gr. From this pulley the rope of each davit passes beneath a pulley, h, to a drum, K. The rope R of cach davit is prevented from fouling by having the grooved roller hl topress upward against it, and hold it securely in its place in the groove of the pulley. This pulley t is applied t'o a frame, h3, which is bolted to the under side ofthe deck ofthe vessel, and the greeved roller hl is held up in placel against the rope R by blocks of India rubber or other suitable springs, t, which can be adjusted and-made to press the roller upward with greater or less force by means of a set-screw, h5, shown in figs. 6 and 7. Both davits and their appurtenances are constructed alike. The flanged drums K K, around which the davitV-ropes arc wound, are made to revolve in unison with the shaft L, upon which they are applied, which shaft is arranged longitudinally with respect to the vessel. Each one of the drums K is applied to itsV shaft L by means of a key-tenen, m, in one end of the former, which fits into along groove in the latter, thereby allowing this drum to be moved longitudinally while turning with its shaft L. That end of each drum K which is nearest the hand-wheel Q, has a female screw formed in it, which receives a mule screw that is formed on the circumference of astationary sleeve, N, which may be fastened to the deck in any suitable manner. The object of this arrangement is to guard the ropes R R of both drums K against fouling, by causing these drums to travelvslowly endwise, so as always to present clear spaces to the ropes winding around them. Both davits being rigged exactly alike, the shaft L controls both drums K K, and is controlled hy the hand and friction-wheel Q and ratchet-wheel U.

The handand friction-wheels arc arranged conjointly, and have formed within their hubs an elastic clutch, which is intended for neutralizing all straining jars, so as to'seeure all the parts against derangement and breakage. To form this elastic clutch the hand-wheel Q is firmly fastened to its shaft L, while the ratcbet' wheel U sits loose upon this shaft, but has lugs,.1t u, fig. 9, sheet 2, on that side next the hund-wheel, which lugs engage with corresponding lugs, q q', on the hand-wheel. ubber, cork, or other elastic blocks, t t, intervene between said lugand neutralize all sudden jars. '.'Lhe hand-wheel or hub Q is made to serve as a frictionbrakc wheel by means of the strap T, which is fastened to the deck at one end and toda lever, T', at the other end, so that by forcibly raising -this lever the band may he made to encircle the hub Q firmly, thereby causing sufficient friction to allow one man to control the lowering of a boat.

As the vibrating davits, when lowered, wciuld endanger a boat rising suddenly upon a trave, it is necessary to cause these davits to rise out of the way of the boat whcnn'elicvcd of the weight thereof. For this purpose two suspension-bars v o are hinged to each davit, close to their respective pivots, as shown in figs. 1 and 2. The

upper ends of these bars'arc pivotcd to the outer forked ends of the lever X, which has its fulcrum in thc side of the vessel. The inner end of this lever X is pivoted to the rod Y, which passes through the series or pile of India-rubber springs I and alternate plates I', and is confined te theni by the screw-nut Y', by which latter the .4 tension of the spring is regulated. '.lhc lower cud of this rod Y passes freely through an eye, which is made through the fixed bracket Z. Then these springs accommodate their posit-ion to the sweep of the cad of lever iX, and the davits are made to preserve a proper distance from the suspended boat.

i, the rising of the davitswill slacken the ropes R Il., it is necessary to prevent this slack from running back tothe drums, which would be likely to cause these ropes to override and foul. For this purpose the elastic pressure-rollers t 7i arc made to act against the ropes beneath pulleys t h, as above described, and prevent those portions of the ropes between the drums and said rollers from becoming slack.

Operation.

To lower a boat from the deck into the water, the davits are brought nilo the position indicated in black lines, fig. 1, with suilicientslacl: of rope to allow the boat to be hauled under them. The devicefor attaching the boat to the ropes R is then adjusted ready for use, and the -boat attached at both ends to said ropes. The ropes R are hauled in by winding them around drums K by hand-wheel Q unt-il the boatwill pass-over the gum. wale. The davits and boat are then swung outward into the' position indicated in black lines, fig: 2l. It' the, seais smooth, the davit's can remain in the upright` positions shown in fig. l, and 'be held so by the catches g g.. and the boat can be lowered close alongside of the vessel, as usual, with this diierenee: the two ropes R can by my plan be paid out equally from both drums K, andthe boat lowered upon an even keel. If the sea is rough, the hooks or latches g are detached from the davits and the latter pushed olf. `Theboat then'deseends to thc water, as shown in g. 2, and rides safely u'ntil released. While the boat is attachedtto thedavits there? is no danger to persons that may be therein, as the davits rise out of the way whenever the boatiriscs u pou a. wave. Y

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isy 1. The application of elastic cushions t t between the hand-wheel hub Q and the ratchet-wheel Ujfor the purpose and in the manner substantially as described. l l

2. The longitudinally travelling drums K applied to the shaft L, substantially in the manner and for the purposes described. l i l 3. In combination with pivotcd ships davi'ts, I claim the pivoted shield or guard S, constructed so asto keep the ropesR in place upon their pulleys during the raising and lowering of a. boat, substantially as'describcd.

4. The combination of elastic pressure-roller L with the roller or pulley it, for preventing theslack of rope R from Vextending back to its drum K, substantially as described.

RoB'r. CREUZBAUR.

Witnesses:

WM.- H. WooDMAN, WM. G. WHEnLwnIonr. 

